An idealistic young officer teams up with an experienced scout to track down a group of murderous Apaches in this popular western drama written by 'Night Moves' screenwriter Alan Sharp and directed by Robert Aldrich. Burt Lancaster has the lead role of the old scout, Richard Jaeckel can be found among the supporting cast and the film is shot by Oscar winning DOP Joseph F. Biroc. With such strong talent both behind and in front of the camera, 'Ulzana's Raid' is a classy production and refreshingly grisly and graphically violent for a western of its era. The crux of the story though is the young officer's growing disillusionment with his quest and gradual realisation that some people out there are simply sadistic and evil - a character arc a little too trite and formulaic to click. Bruce Davison is a solid actor in general (very effective in 'Last Summer' and 'The Strawberry Statement' only a few years earlier) but he is simply grating as the young officer here, constantly preaching his religious beliefs and constantly asking rhetorical questions in a non-rhetorical way. He seems like a child at times with his apparent oblivion to evil existing in the world and frequent claims of good existing in everyone. The film almost makes up for this with a nice subplot involving Jorge Luke as an Apache helping Lancaster and Davison in their quest with some very pronounced internal dilemmas. Some apparently regard the film as a Vietnam War allegory, but it can be appreciated allegorical connections aside, even if it is hardly a flawless production.
Review of Ulzana's Raid
